


Two-Self

by allofthefandoms



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Gender Issues, Gender Roles, Genderqueer Character, Identity Issues, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-21
Updated: 2013-01-21
Packaged: 2017-11-26 08:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/648426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofthefandoms/pseuds/allofthefandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dàmish.  Two-selves.  It’s an odd term, Ori decides, for an odd occurrence among dwarves.  Due to the fact that only one out of every three dwarf men will find a woman to wed, the practice of male marriage is not uncommon, and is generally as well accepted as any other sort of bond.  However, that’s not what Ori feels, at least not entirely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two-Self

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zara/gifts), [Glorfindel (Zana)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zana/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Secret](https://archiveofourown.org/works/628170) by [Glorfindel (Zana)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zana/pseuds/Glorfindel). 



> Inspired and dedicated to Zara, who's amazing piece The Secret, a totally beautiful an amazing fic about transgender dwarves, is the inspiration for this piece.
> 
> Also, I am basically making up a bit of Dwarvish language and a bit of Dwarvish culture and myth, which is heavily inspired by the Two-Spirit tradition of many Native American cultures. If for whatever reason, I have offended or hurt you, let me know and I will remedy it.

Dàmish. Two-selves. It’s an odd term, Ori decides, for an odd occurrence among dwarves. Due to the fact that only one out of every three dwarf men will find a woman to wed, the practice of male marriage is not uncommon, and is generally as well accepted as any other sort of bond. However, that’s not what Ori feels, at least not entirely.  
He never was a fighter. He liked his books too much. As a child, he had often been teased for loving such womanly pursuits as books (which were tended and cared for almost exclusively by women even after their exile) along with his slight stature and his mild stutter. But nonetheless there was a brave streak running through him worthy of legends, or so his father insists. Ori just feels like a scared drawfling better suited to foraging with his mother than any sort of real combat.

But he doesn’t mind, at least not really. There is a part of him that wishes he was more like his brothers, the childish part that still hates himself, but for every dwarf who teases him for preferring knitwear to chainmail there is a book from his father who always tries to bring back something for Ori whenever he is able to, and for every whisper there is a mother’s kiss and his brothers’ love. They care for him fiercely, and it soothes many of his fears.

But he can’t help but wonder.

“Am I sick?” he asked Tali, a stout matron of a dwarf who was teaching Ori how to knit. “For liking womanly things and for not wanting to be a warrior? I mean, is there something wrong with me?”

“For not liking what the others like?” She replied with a snort. “Hardly. You just have a different soul than the rest of us.”

“A different soul?”

“I believe there is a gentle soul in you, perhaps a woman’s soul. Both a man and a woman’s soul can reside in one person.”

“How can a person have more than one soul?”

“There are stories that when the dwarves were hidden away to protect them from Iluvatar some were hidden too close, merging the souls into one vessel. And thus dwarves such as these were not clearly male nor female. They were called dàmish. Two-selves. The word has died out, but I doubt the feeling has Master Ori. I doubt you are the first dwarf to deal with not quite fitting into your own skin.” 

Just having a word for these feelings did much to reassure Ori, and he devoured every word he could find on the topic, ranging from the ancient myths to more recent articles on the roles dàmish had played in the history of Erebor.

And when he ran to his father one excited afternoon with one particular passage that had spoken to him crying “Father! Look at what this says”, his father gave him a soft knowing smile before letting Ori balance the book on his knee and reading the passage his bouncing son points to. 

“I always knew you were different,” he said, bumping heads affectionately with his son. “And I always knew you were special.”


End file.
